Jaw Position/Movement for Different Vowels

[bhf]

Hi guys, first post.

When you are singing different vowels on one pitch, does the jaw itself move?

For example if I sing "oo-ee-eh-oh-ah" on one single pitch, I suppose the lips/mouth shape will change, but not the jaw?

Trying to figure out what is the best way to maintain the resonance between vowels.

[Owen Korzec]

Hi guys, first post.

When you are singing different vowels on one pitch, does the jaw itself move?

For example if I sing "oo-ee-eh-oh-ah" on one single pitch, I suppose the lips/mouth shape will change, but not the jaw?

Trying to figure out what is the best way to maintain the resonance between vowels.

Generally speaking the jaw and lips should change as little as possible. The tip of the tongue should be anchored against the back of the bottom teeth. The position of the middle of the tongue should be doing most of the work, moving up down front and back to form vowels.

But more important than the configuration of the physiology is the acoustics of the resonances. We generally want to configure the physiology so that the acoustics are optimal, not the other way around. You want every vowel, every pitch, to have a ring to it. So IMO it's better to get away from the mirror every once in a while, put your voice through some good amplification or record it, and then listen critically, and adjust for the best tone.

Unless you feel like getting into the science of formant tuning, it's going to take a lot of experimentation to figure out how to shape the vowels so that the formants tune to the harmonics, creating a ring that gives you more sound with less effort. And it's going to be different on different pitches and different on different vowels. It's a lot to figure out, and you will almost always have to approach it on a song by song basis, mapping out the exact vowel shades that work best for each song on the toughest parts. On easier parts, particularly lower and/or quieter pitches, you don't have to worry about it as much.

[Sun]

Unless you feel like getting into the science of formant tuning, it's going to take a lot of experimentation to figure out how to shape the vowels so that the formants tune to the harmonics, creating a ring that gives you more sound with less effort. And it's going to be different on different pitches and different on different vowels. It's a lot to figure out, and you will almost always have to approach it on a song by song basis, mapping out the exact vowel shades that work best for each song on the toughest parts. On easier parts, particularly lower and/or quieter pitches, you don't have to worry about it as much.

So this is probably how singers get a particular style, they get really good at tuning their voice to a certain vowel shape sound etc and continue to use that all the time.

I notice most singers use a lot of the same riffs, licks and scream/shouts, some singers tend to use some vowels more than others.

[Owen Korzec]

Nailed it.

There are "eh" singers, "ah" singers, "ae" singers, "uh" singers, narrow vowel singers, hooty singers, etc. etc.

Most singers have some sort of gravitation to a some general kind of vowel shade.